In 2005, in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, AECOM supported the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and local government to support emergency and rapid response and long-term recovery.
AECOM worked with FEMA to dispatch over 2,000 FEMA- trained personnel. Services included:
- Over 2,000 facility damage assessments
- Performed 1 million residential structure damage assessments
- Generation of more than 9,500 infrastructure repair statements of work and cost estimates, totalling nearly $2.8 billion in recovery funding
- Restoration of levees, including raising levees to the newly developed 100- year design levels of protection
- Design and construction for $40 million repair to the Keesler Air Force Base Hospital
- Preparation of over 1,900 miles of coastal flooding analysis for 18 counties and parishes
- Housing recovery planning and implementation
- Mitigation planning and project development
Data collected from early digital flood recovery maps showed the extent and magnitude of Hurricane Katrina’s surge, as well as information on advisory flood data. This was communicated promptly via the FEMA website to enable communities to be better informed in their rebuild efforts.
Our support to the Mississippi Governor’s Office of Recovery and Renewal enabled sourcing, allocation and coordination of key funding as well as internal capacity building through policy guidance to the Governor’s office and training and education programmes.
AECOM’s work with the Mississippi Development Authority to plan for permanent housing repair and replacement and low-income housing assistance hazard mitigation components, such as elevating homes and adopting building codes were incorporated into resilient housing recovery. The focus on permanent solutions aided the transition from immediate response to long term rebuild by incorporating resiliency into the immediate response phase.
Just thirteen months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the damaged Louisiana Superdome reopened as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome – to the delight of a beleaguered Gulf Coast region. Never in the history of U.S. stadiums has a facility been so heavily damaged and rebuilt so quickly. 5,000 tons of debris were removed, and the US National Football League’s New Orleans Saints regained their home.
The project included a new Champion Square, which gives the venue a connection to the streetscape of New Orleans. Several phases on operational and revenue driven enhancements were also carried out and everything from the fan arrival and experience, to sightlines were enhanced.
AECOM served as sports architect in association with Trahan Architects, Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects and Billes Architecture. One of the key factors in achieving such a quick turnaround, was that AECOM (through Ellerbe Becket) had a long-term relationship with SMG (the Superdome’s management company) and the Superdome Commission and had been working pre-Katrina on plans to enhance the building to keep it current with NFL stadium trends.
The result is a Superdome that is better than ever.
Partners
Trahan Arch/Sizeler Arch/Billes Arch | Broadmoor LLC: Construction
St. Bernard Parish, southeast of New Orleans, was one of the areas hit hardest when Hurricane Katrina’s 23-foot storm surge breached the city’s levees in 2005. About 85 percent of the parish lay under water. In the aftermath of Katrina, AECOM played a key role in executing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) $14.2 billion plan to protect New Orleans from future storms.
In addition to providing immediate post-disaster cleanup and restoration support to USACE on more than 30 projects, we provided constructability reviews and construction services to upgrade the levee section known as Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity (LPV) 146, located in St. Bernard Parish.
At LPV 146, the AECOM-led team placed more than 100,000 cubic yards of concrete to build approximately eight miles of flood control wall, or “T-wall,” atop the existing levee. Raising the protective barrier from an approximate elevation of 20 feet to 29 feet greatly reduced the area’s vulnerability to potential storm surges.
LPV 146 was a large-scale, highly complex undertaking. The three phases of the $273 million project entailed constructability reviews, which included initial scheduling and cost estimating; plan validation, which required driving of test piles; and finally construction.
As a validation of the quality of AECOM’s work, LPV 146 protected St. Bernard Parish when Hurricane Isaac swept through the area in 2012.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
- Completed entire project without a lost-time accident
- Reduced project timeline by 42 days and produced $50 million in net project savings
- Awarded the highest profit rate allowable under a USACE contract—10 percent
- Earned USACE’s highest performance rating